As I'm sure you've all been waiting for this, here we go: the next Cribbage Inc. Newsletter!!!!!

I intend to keep sending the newsletter out once a month, but I also intended to finish our last tournament last month, so who am I kidding?!?!!?

Regardless, keep sending me any tidbits that you feel should be heard (read) by our members and I will do my best to include them in here.

*****************TOURNAMENT NEWS!!!!*******************

FINALLY!!! The tournament is over!!! We have a brand new champion, Kent "Bowulf" Altena!!!!!!! Bowulf defeated Bill "Doc Hugs" Young in the finals 4-3 in a thrilling best of seven series.

Congratulations to both players and congratulations as well to everyone who participated.

As for the NEXT tournament: I am opening sign-ups NOW!!!!! Please email me with your Cribbage Inc. name please in order to join the tournament (ex. ). Players will be entered on a first come first served basis and ranked according to past tournament results. If I get enough demand, I will perhaps hold 2 tournaments at once, or simply expand the number of players in one tournament (we are currently playing 32 person tourny's, but I would be willing to expand to 64, or more).

All games will be played on Igames, unless both players can agree on a different program.

Those who sign up for the tournament will receive more information before it begins...

If you have any questions concerning tournaments, please feel free to contact me.

******************WEB NEWS*********************

As some of you may be aware, Cribbage Inc. has grown exponentially since first hitting the web 15 months ago. We have grown from 35 members, to over 450!!

As President, it was fairly simple for me to organize everything a year ago.... Now, it has grown far to large for me to manage by myself. I have tried to entice some members into helping me, and this has worked out well to an extent. However, I have found that I need someone who knows HTML that I can contact daily and, if necessary, meet with person-to-person in order to update the page.

Therefore, I am asking anyone who lives in the Greater Toronto Area to give me a hand. I would really appreciate someone who knows HTML to update my page, WITH ME PRESENT, and then show me how I can keep making changes. As many of you know, I have very little knowledge of HTML (but I'm REALLY good at cut-and-paste!), so this is necessary.

I am leaving my mailing address at the bottom of the newsletter, so anyone who's interested, please give me an email, phone call, ICQ message, etc.

Notwithstanding this need, I'd still like to thank all of you who have helped with the page up till now. I'm not ungrateful, and I'll still probably need you for other things.

********************GAMING NEWS*******************

This section of our newsletter was an idea from my VP Laurance "Benevolent Benefactor" Yap (wow, the exec. actually does something every so often!!!).

In the following months, I will be placing all tidbits that people send me in this column.

ANTI-CRIBBAGE: The idea of Anti-Cribbage is fairly simple: LOSE!! While seemingly simple, this variant of cribbage contains several different skills and strategies, making cribbage just that much more exciting. With "19 point hands" being the ideal, and 24 point hands the worst, gaming can be fun, hilarious, or terribly frustrating. The beauty of this variant is that it can also be played on Igames, as it doesn't change any of the rules of cribbage. For those who play, however, be wary; a game will take much longer (as pegs creep around the board), and don't be misled into thinking that getting no points is easy!! It gives one a new perspective on crummy hands!!

--Thanx to Bill "Dhaller" Williams for submitting this!!

DOUBLE-SKUNKS!!: The double-skunk is a very rare occurrence in cribbage, entailing a loss by more then 60 points, thus when one does occur, it is fitting that it be reported to Cribbage Inc.

Until very recently, only Tommy "Soy" Wong had ever been double-skunked in Cribbage Inc. history. Now, however, Tommy is not alone: Laurance "Benevolent Benefactor" Yap has managed to get double-skunked not once, but TWICE!! Losing the first game 121-56 and the other time 121-49. Long known for his pathetic cribbing skills, Laurance has now hit an all time low... To give Yapper a bit of credit, he was playing ME on both occasions, but that isn't much of an excuse!!

28 POINT HAND: The most points one can receive in one's hand is 29, and I have never had that occur (without cheating anyways!). However, 28, which is almost as rare, HAS happened and is worthy of note. Laurance scored 28 after a 5 was cut with 5-5-5-K in his hand. Unfortunately for Yapper, he STILL managed to lose that game to me.....

Well, that's it for cribbing news, if you have any great moments that you wish shared by all, please send them to me and I will post them here.

**********************NEW MEMBERS************************

Having trouble getting started? Can't figure out how to get Igames rolling? Don't even know what Igames is??!??!?! This is the place for you!

IGAMES: This is the first thing that ALL members must download. Igames is an Internet gaming program specializing in cards (especially cribbage!!!). It is approximately 2 megs. and is FREE of charge. There is a link to Igames on the Cribbage Inc. home page, or you can go directly there at http://www.igames.com . YOU NEED WINDOWS 95 FOR IGAMES TO WORK!!!!!!!!

Once it is downloaded and installed, simply click on the "chatroom" icon in the Igames folder (you must be connected to the Internet).

You should then see a bunch of gamerooms... (download "addrooms" from http://www.igames.com/download if you only see 10 rooms). Pick a room with lots of people (ex. Cribbage Room #1), and enter. The first time, you will be asked for a login/password. Don't worry, it's just a formality and you won't be charged.

Once you are in a room, you will see a bunch of names. Click on any to select (or unselect) and start talking (typing). When you get someone to agree to play Cribbage (or hearts, spades, backgammon, etc.), go to the "invite" and select the game you wish to play.

If the other player (players if Hearts or Spades) accepts, then the game will launch! Enjoy!!

If you still have any problems, feel free to contact me.

ICQ: ICQ is a chat program that will tell you when all of your contacts are online. It is useful for setting up matches with particular people (since telephoning can be expensive and email imprecise). ICQ is particularly useful if you are entered in a tournament, as this will allow you to find your opponent much faster, as well as enable you to keep in contact with me.

Download ICQ from http://www.mirabilis.com for FREE! Simply install it, then add me as your first contact. My ICQ UIN is 5523630.

If you have any problems getting started, or have any questions, suggestions, etc. please feel free to contact me via ICQ or email.

*********************CREDITS************************